


The Merry-Go-Round Of Life

by tsukitachinu



Series: Kun and the reincarnation office [1]
Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: DAY 7: REINCARNATION, Ghibli AU, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Misunderstanding, Mutual Pining, Office AU, Reincarnation, friends to lover, mentionned mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsukitachinu/pseuds/tsukitachinu
Summary: In a world where ghibli movies are actual historical events, some people happen to be reincarnations of past heroes. The world government decided to keep track of them, creating Reincarnation Offices everywhere.Kun works in the Seoul Reincarnation Office, and he gets to meet a lot of them, befriending them. Until there is one of them that he doesn't want to be friends with, he wants so much more.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Series: Kun and the reincarnation office [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604890
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38
Collections: In Every Lifetime: A KunTen Fan Week





	The Merry-Go-Round Of Life

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first one shot of a alternate universe I thought about for a while now : Kun and the reincarnation office. I tried to explain a bit about how the universe work in the summary but in case it is not enough : some people are the reincarnation of ghibli characters and they have to register to a specific office : the reincarnation office. There they keep track of their powers, their memories, from what period they are from etc. Each Returned (reincarnated person) is bound to One office worker and would always go to that one person if they need anything. Each Office Worker has several Returned under their care but they have to take good care of all of them and help them any way they can, 99% of the time administratively, 1% of the time getting them out of troubles.
> 
> Thank you to Nana and Genie for beta-ing it !!! You are life-savers oof

Kun arrived at the Seoul Reincarnation Office at 8am sharp, ready to start his week and take care of the Returned that were under his care, ready to send out paperwork and do research about their past-selves, to help them regarding their special condition and make sure they don’t get into trouble. He was used to it, he had been working in this office for a while now, so he knew what he had to do this day and it was supposed to be rather chill.

That’s what he thought, until he arrived at his desk, next to Jongin’s, and saw that he had two new files and so did Jongin. He squinted his eyes to see a bit further and saw that Sehun, his other co-worker and friend, had some new files as well. 

Oh right, Boa retired, he almost forgot.

Kun took one of the two files that had landed on his desk a few minutes ago and brushed the label with his thumb, getting accustomed to the name of his new protégé, ‘  _ Lee Jeno  _ ’ it said. For what seemed to him like hours, but was in reality a few seconds, he debated on his own if he should read that file first, or see the name written on the second file before going in depth. In the end, he decided to do one file after the other, and so he said  _ ‘hi’  _ to the picture of Lee Jeno when he opened the brownish file. Lots of information were written on this document, but the most important was in red.

“ Jiji ? “ 

If Kun did not know better, he would have thought this was a stupid name. But Kun knew better, because Kun knew Chenle. Kun knew Chenle who had “  _ Kiki _ “ written at the exact same place on his very own file.

And so Kun knew and started reading what it implied, what special characteristics that Lee Jeno had. Not every Returned had powers, or could shapeshift or anything, some had just vibrant memories of their past-selves or some knowledge about things they had never learned about. They always had something special though, of that, Kun was certain.

“ Jiji used to be - “

“ Hey Kun, can you read in your head ? We’re all trying to get adjusted to the new files we got since Boa retired, and knowing about your Returned isn’t helpful dude.”

Kun said sorry with a chuckle and tried his best to read the following lines in his head, he still had to lip sync them but it didn’t make any sound so he was safe from Sehun’s wrath.  _ Jiji used to be the black cat of the witch called Kiki, he didn’t speak per se but he could communicate with Kiki _ . This was basic information on Jeno, or actually about who Jeno was the reincarnation of, but it did not explain how Jeno felt this reincarnation and how he lived with Jiji’s memories, the next lines explained it : _ Lee Jeno can turn into a cat  _ ( a little note had been scribbled next to the printing ; ‘ _ hasn’t fully mastered it yet _ ’ - Kun wrote a mental note to ask him how he’s been doing with shapeshifting lately).  _ He can understand cats even without being in cat form _ . 

It took about an hour for Kun to read Lee Jeno’s file thoroughly, before finally moving on to his second new recruit. 

“ Excuse me ? I’m looking for Mr.Qian ? “

Kun moved his head to see who was looking for him and when he saw the face of the man, he stumbled upon his feet and went to meet him. “ This is me, what can I do to help you ? “

The second recruit would have to wait, this stranger was way too pretty.

“ I’m Ten, I got a text telling me that my Advisor, Boa, had retired and her files had been dispatched ? You got mine … right ? “

The second recruit would not have to wait. Great. Now Kun looked completely unprofessional for not recognizing the face of his Returned, which he should have been able to do if he had looked at the file. 

They exchanged some more small talk and Ten finally took a seat in front of Kun’s desk, wanting to know more about him and how he worked.  _ Did he send mail ? texts ? Did he call ? _ Although Ten hoped not because he hated calls. Kun worked with mail but he could do texts if that was what Ten preferred, which he did.

Kun never texted for work purposes. He ended up becoming friends with too many of the Returned that he had to take care of, so he decided early on to not mix work and personal matters, and to always use emails when it concerned the office. 

But Kun was also a weak man and Ten’s eyes worked wonders.

  
  


****************

Kun had had Jeno and Ten’s file for about a month now, and he had time to meet them both a few times. He met Jeno on the first day, a few hours after meeting Ten, and they exchanged greetings and learnt how to work together, what Jeno expected Kun to do and what not to do, and vice versa. 

The second time Kun saw Jeno was to introduce him to Chenle. It wasn’t rare for Returned to live at the same time as other reincarnations of the same event, but it was rare that they could meet, and even more so that they were both under the same Supervisor’s care. So Kun thought it would be nice for them to meet, to share that special bond. And to some extent, he was right. They got along well at first, when Kun had only told them that they were from the same period, the Koriko era.

When Chenle started saying how amazing it was to have powers and to be a witch, however, things got a little more tense. Kun didn’t predict that, because he couldn’t put himself in Jeno’s shoes fully, with him not being a cat and all that, but when he saw the look on Jeno’s face he understood and felt sorry. Surely it wasn’t easy to know that you were someone’s cat, when you’re supposed to be a human being above anything else.

The third time Kun saw Jeno was to accompany him to see Chenle, he wanted to apologize for throwing a tantrum the last time and try to get to know him better.

He even took his cat form and let Chenle pet him near the end.

Kun saw Jeno three times during that first month.

Kun saw Ten eleven times during that first month.

The first time it was Ten coming to his office to ask if Kun knew any other Returned from Ingary Era, then it was about making Ten and Mark meet, and then Ten straight up asked Kun if they could hang out because he seemed nice. Kun already had several Returned friends so he didn’t mind mixing that part of the work and went along with it. They met to try a new madeleine recipe, which ended up being fantastic, they also went to the city festival together, as well as to the museum, and to several cute coffee shops where Ten would draw and Kun would do some research for work.

It went pretty much the same way for another month. And a third one. They both grew fond of each other and got attached pretty quick, there was something easy about being Ten’s friend that Kun really liked, without it ever being boring. It was not easy in the same way as being Doyoung’s friend, whom he really liked. With Ten they would plan things, and sometimes the things did not happen the way they were expected to. They were not what someone would call a chill hang out, but it never made Kun feel stressed, being with Ten was always serene. 

**from : Tennie**

>i’m downstairs, what’s the password again ? 

**to : tennie**

>knock 25 times, then put a finger under the door and whisper “ abracadabra “ three times.

Kun could hear Ten laughing even from the 3rd floor.

**to : tennie**

>its 60453

A few minutes later, Ten was knocking a ridiculous amount of times on Kun’s door, and Kun rushed to open it, afraid that it might wake Doyoung up. 

When the door opened and Ten stopped knocking on Kun’s shoulder, they hugged briefly. It had been their way to say hello for a few weeks now and both of them enjoyed it a bit too much, trying to crush the other’s body while doing it. 

They heard someone clear their throat and Kun immediately stopped hugging Ten to go join the newcomer, who was not really a new-comer since he came from inside the flat. 

Ten smiled at him and tend his hand to shake his. “ You must be Doyoung, right ? Kun’s roommate”.

Doyoung nodded and took his hand, his grip probably a bit too harsh while he replied “And you must be Ten, right ? I’m Kun’s boyfriend, nice to meet you.”

Ten’s face decomposed upon hearing the news, he had always assumed that Kun was single with the way they acted towards each other. Surely Doyoung was kidding, Kun could not be in a relationship while going on dates with Ten.. right ? 

Maybe they never were dates. Maybe it had always been in Ten’s mind, it was true that they never called them dates, they just went to places, asking each other to meet to do this or that without calling it a date, but Ten just thought, had always thought that Kun liked him, at least a little, and that it wasn’t his own feelings making him blind, that there was actually something between them.

He must have been wrong.

“ You’re not coming in ? “ Kun asked with the most charming smile.

Coming in ? Oh, right, they had plans. Ten came here for a reason, to bake muffins with Kun. Oh and to meet someone. Ten started to feel sick, how stupid must he be that he truly believed Kun would introduce him to a friend who liked to bake, or his cat. He actually thought he might be meeting Doyoung but only because Kun told him they were roommates. It was recently though, of that he had been informed.

Maybe they moved in together after years of dating ? 

Ten ran inside and rushed to the kitchen before vomiting everything he had eaten at lunch.

At least he did come in.

****************

**Incoming call : Kun** ( skull emoji)

Ten looked at his phone with dubious eyes, not knowing what to do. Should he answer the call ? It would be awkward, they hadn’t talked in the last couple of months.. since Ten had heard about Kun being in a relationship.

It had been hard to cut ties, to stop replying to Kun’s texts after telling him that he was sorry he ruined his kitchen and that he could not bake muffins with him. And then a few days later ‘ _ yes, don’t worry I’m feeling better _ ’. After that text, Ten stopped replying to Kun, unless he used his work email address about office matters, Ten was an honest citizen and replied to those, he did not want to be disbarred  from the office and be undocumented.

He didn’t reply to any text, didn’t reach out to meet him, he made it pretty clear that he had been hurt when Kun called him for the thousandth time and Ten picked up out of rage, to yell at him about his unrequited feelings and how much of a bastard Kun was.

But Kun had stopped calling since then, he had understood and apologized, and Ten had tried to move on.

So why was he calling now ? 

**From : Kun** ( skull emoji )

> Ten, I’m sorry I’m calling you but I swear it’s important, it’s about Jeno, please call me back.

Jeno ? Something was wrong with Jeno ? Ten knew in his heart that Kun would never use Jeno as a pretext to talk to him, so it must be serious. 

Ten hated Kun, but he still cared about Jeno deeply. They had known each other for so long thanks to Boa, he could not give up on him because of some boy. Ten liked to think that his worth was above that.

Therefore, he grabbed his phone and pressed the dial button next to the skull. 

It took only a few seconds for Kun to reply and start thanking him for calling him back, probably about a thousand times before Ten cut him off, ‘Kun, what happened with Jeno ?’ and Kun went back to regular-Kun (meaning serious, composed). 

A few hours ago, Kun had replied to a call from Chenle. It was a lovely  Sunday  and he optimistically hoped it would be an easy, peaceful, restful day. But this was something he gave up a long time ago, when he had decided to adopt the kid in his heart. After Chenle’s call, Kun had looked to Doyoung and without him needing to say anything, Doyoung paused the film they were watching on Netflix and said “ _ I know, go _ ”. 

Except this time Kun needed Doyoung’s help, and everybody else’s as well (except Mark who couldn’t come because it was raining), because Jeno was missing. Chenle called him because Jeno transformed and he lost ‘his cat’.

They had been roaming the streets for a while, not being able to find him and none of them had powers that could help at the moment, so Kun swallowed his pride and called Ten.

Ten could help, Ten was a witch, a powerful witch, and he loved Jeno. 

He was actually quite hurt that Kun hadn’t called earlier but it did not matter at the moment, he pushed this thought to some place in his head for later, and rushed to join the others. He asked them if they had anything belonging to Jeno on them, which they did not, so they agreed to meet in front of Chenle’s dormitory. 

Ten did not bother going there on foot, it was too slow, and the man could fly thanks to his powers. So that’s what he did.

He arrived in front of Chenle’s room before anyone else, and waited, impatient. He felt like his own kid was missing, or more like his little brother, and it was painful. He couldn’t really name the emotion he was feeling right now but it sure as hell was not pleasant, and he was even more worried that the others had been looking for Jeno without any success. Sure they did not have Ten’s help, but Chenle was a witch as well and had tried his best. If it was that hard to find him, maybe something happened to him ? 

It was on this thought, with worry showing on his face after it had  eaten  his entire being, that the others arrived. First Chenle, on his broomstick, then the others, running. 

The others meant Kun. Kun was here, and even though Ten was focused on finding Jeno, it was hard to see him again, especially with Doyoung’s hand on his. They seemed like a cute couple, that’s what losers would say thought Ten, and he was no loser. They looked ugly.

But Jeno was more important, and Ten focused on Chenle opening his door, on Chenle getting Jeno’s coat and on Chenle giving him that coat so he could use tracking spells. 

Thank the gods it worked.

A second later, Ten was flying, leaving everyone behind (except Chenle who tagged along on his loyal broomstick) to follow the light coming out of The Coat, pinpointing Jeno’s location. 

****************

After they found Jeno, and Ten crushed all his bones by hugging him, they all went separate ways. Chenle and Jeno went back to Chenle’s to watch a show, they both felt the need to stay together and have a sleepover after the nerve-wrecking event. Kun went back with Doyoung, to their flat, to do whatever, Ten was not interested and did not listen. 

Ten went back to his place, and never replied to any of Kun’s texts thanking him.

It had been two weeks since and Ten could sometimes see the writing bubble pop up on his chat with Kun. It always disappeared a few seconds later. ( it absolutely did not mean that Ten left his phone opened on the chat )

It would be a lie to say that he did not miss Kun, and that he never thought about how stupidly pretty his boyfriend was, and how insanely gorgeous Kun’s smile was when he was in his arms. No, Ten never relied on self-pity, and he never indulged in fake-hating his crush and crush’s boyfriend either, that was so below him.

Ten knew his worth, he knew he was pretty, he knew he was funny and that his witchness was clearly a bonus point. Witchcraft is hot. He also knew that Kun seemed to enjoy hanging out with him, he was sure he found him pretty and he saw him blush a few times, of that he was a hundred percent positive. 

What really hurt Ten was not understanding. 

Not understanding why Kun hung out with him and treated him that way, lovingly : it felt like dates. Not understanding why Kun picked Doyoung and not him. 

“ Ten, please let me in, please. “

And now Ten was hearing voices. Kun’s voice, more precisely, but he refused to acknowledge it. It would make everything way too real and he did not need that. 

“ Ten, I need to see you, I miss you, please let me in, I’ll explain everything. “

Maybe the voice wasn’t in his head ? Maybe Kun was actually knocking at his door. Maybe Ten really needed to understand and maybe he went to open that door, saying “I did not open. But hypothetically, if I did open, what would you have said ?” (?)

Kun laughed.

It was not a pretty airy laugh like he used to do, it wasn’t as careless, as carefree. One could sense that Kun felt way more deeply about what Ten had said but tried to stay composed. One could sense that Kun did not feel that well and did not really feel like laughing.

“ Can I come in ? “

“ You may. But you better explain quickly before I change my mind. “

“ Thank you. “

On that note, Kun entered Ten’s flat and personal space, being maybe a little too close and he blushed when he noticed it before rushing to the sofa in order to avoid being face to face with Ten. 

He fidgeted with his hand for a while, he did not know how to start but tried hard to do so quickly enough because he knew Ten’s threat wasn’t hollow.

“ I talked about you with Doyoung. Wait, I know it sounds weird but please let me finish okay ? I like you, Ten. I like you a lot -” On that, Ten’s eyebrow raised and he started talking but he got cut by Kun. “I said wait, please I need to explain, you deserve to know the whole story. So, erm, I like you, but I’ve been crushing on Doie for a while now, we used to be friends and it grew into more, then we became roommates and it just became too overwhelming. And I started hanging out with you, which was alright because I never thought any of you would like me back you know… except that Doyoung did and asked me out, and who was I to say no to a man I’ve been loving for way too long ? So I agreed, and you saw us and ditched me. At first I was in denial, because I thought you would never like me, with you being so great and all that.. but maybe I was wrong ? And it’s been too long Ten, I miss you so so much.. seeing you because of Jeno was too much, too painful, so I talked about you with Doyoung. I explained how I felt and he said he didn’t mind it as long as I still loved him at least just as much.”

Towards the end of his speech, Kun stopped looking at his feet and started looking at Ten, with loving and hopeful eyes. 

“ I don’t know if I read the signals wrong, or if I got too cocky with thinking that maybe you liked me back, but I was wondering if you could forgive me.. and maybe someday go on a date with me ? “

****************

Ten was waiting in front of Kun’s flat door, a bit nervous but giddy at the idea of going on a date with him. He made himself extra pretty, even more than usual, and brought an extra jacket in his car, just in case. He knew it was cheesy, and probably useless because Kun was a careful and organised person who would bring a jacket if he needed one. But Ten liked cheesy, he always thought cheesy was nice and he longed for it.

He smiled a bit awkwardly when Doyoung opened the door but the latter actually smiled at him and told him to come in “ Kun isn’t ready yet. I kept asking him to review an article for me, sorry “. Doyoung seemed genuinely sorry and Ten replied with a ‘no biggy’ as if he were 17 years old again.  _ God he was so lame _ .

Another thing that he always thought was cheesy but couldn’t care less at the moment was the part in every romantic comedy where one of the lovers would wait for the other to appear, and when they did appear they looked stunning, leaving the one waiting drooling.

Well, the drooling part was not inon the movies. That didn’t mean Ten couldn’t improvise however.

He rushed on to his feet and went to take Kun’s hands in his, smiling like an idiot because he did look stunning. He did not, however, looked transformed one bit, the same old perfectly mesmerizing Kun. 

“ Should we get going ? “ Ten asked, waiting for him to move, their hands still linked.

Kun looked a bit embarrassed, afraid it might be awkward for Ten or Doyoung, or even both, but he still did not want to leave the flat without saying goodbye so he left Ten in the living room for a minute and went to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek.

Then they went on their first official date.

It was amazing, Ten couldn’t have hoped for more, for better. Kun was everything he ever hoped for and time seemed to flow by without any of them feeling it. They went to the botanical garden where Ten taught Kun about the benefits of many plants, and told him that he was trying to brew potions these days. Kun was surprised because the historical Howl, at least from what books could tell, was not really interested in potions, except from the one who could change his hair colour. Ten replied that it wasn’t because his past self was lame that he shouldn’t strive to be an even better witch than the mighty Howl Jenkins Pendragon. 

Kun looked at him with loving eyes.  _ That’s really hot _ .

“ You think that’s hot ? “ Ten said, a smirk showing on his lips, obviously way too happy about it.

“ Wait you heard that ? “ 

Kun never blushed as much before, he couldn’t believe that he spoke his thoughts, and that  _ Ten heard them, oh my god what is he going to think now ?? _

“ I did. Loved it, don’t hesitate to praise me whenever. “

Ten made it seem easy, made it seem like he wasn’t trying hard to sound detached and unaffected when in reality he was trying his hardest not to cover Kun in kisses in front of the lavender before them.

It seemed that none of them could keep their thoughts for themselves because a few seconds, after he thought about kissing Kun, the latter actually kissed him. Right in front of the lavenders, without shame, plants had souls and could feel - oh my god Ten shut up, Ten thought, before focusing on the important matter : the kiss.

Kun’s lips.

On

His

Own

Ten wasn’t malfunctioning per se, but he certainly had trouble breathing and coordinating his lips with the other’s. It was harder than it seemed and he hated every romantic comedy he ever watched that made it seem so easy. Of course he had kissed people before, but he never cared if it wasn’t perfect. With Kun he cared. He wanted to kiss him properly, and these thoughts started to become overwhelming, taking control of his mind so much that he couldn’t really process nor enjoy the kiss. 

Kun seemed to notice and lifted his lips a bit, not too far away, he wanted to go back at it just as much as Ten, but he wanted his date to feel comfortable and enjoy hanging out with him, enjoy kissing him and preferably not running away anytime soon. So he smiled at Ten, his thumbs on both of this cheeks, brushing them gently. 

“Ten, breathe. “

“ I can’t, you’re too beautiful you’re taking my breath away. “ Ten blurted out, without thinking, his flirting kicking back in.  _ Thank god. _

“ Cheesy. You’re not too bad yourself, but you’d be prettier if you were kissing me.. “

“ I’d love to, but I don’t kiss strangers.. “

“ I’m the stranger ? really ? I wasn’t a stranger when you asked for cute pics because you were stressed yesterday now was I ? “

“ Kun, shut up I’m trying to ask you to be my boyfriend. “

“ Oh. Ohhhhh. Oh. Okay. Yeah. Let’s do that. Ask me.”

“ I don’t kiss strangers so I can only kiss you if you agree to be my boyfriend, do you ? “

Kun nodded, suppressing a laugh.

Ten, way calmer this time, smiled with some confidence that he didn’t take too long to find and leaned in.


End file.
